The 18 Leopard 2 tanks that the Olaf Scholz government promised Volodimir Zelensky have already arrived in Ukraine, according to the
Der Spiegel
magazine , citing security sources.
The last ones left the country at the end of last week and have already been delivered to the Ukrainian border.
In addition to the Leopard 2 main battle tanks, Berlin has recently sent around 40 Marder armored infantry carriers along routes it keeps secret for security reasons.
Berlin has taken only two months to make effective its promise to supply the modern Leopard tanks that kyiv requested.
It was at the end of January when the foreign minister reversed his previous policy of caution regarding the delivery of these armored vehicles, which can provide a qualitative advantage on the battlefield.
Scholz was reluctant to authorize the supply of the Leopards alone for fear of a possible reaction from Moscow and despite pressure from allies such as Poland.
After negotiations with his partners, especially with the United States – which announced at the same time the delivery of 31 of its M1 Abrams tanks – the foreign minister gave the green light to the operation.
The initial plan was to equip two battalions with 31 Leopard tanks each, partly with other European Union partners.
Berlin was to contribute 14, Scholz announced, but it quickly became clear that they were not enough to form a battalion and the number rose to 18. For the past two months, the Bundeswehr (German Army) has been training Ukrainian soldiers in the tank management with an accelerated learning program.
Technicians from the Ukrainian Armed Forces have also traveled to Germany to learn how to maintain this equipment, which Berlin delivers with a large package of ammunition and spare parts.
German instructors were very pleased with their students at a press conference held in Munster, where Ukrainian soldiers practiced with live fire two weeks ago.
“They have proven to be not only incredibly motivated, but also very capable of learning both the technology and the operating principles,” said Björn Schulz, commander of the Munster (Lower Saxony) tank troop school.
The Leopard 2 are modern and agile armored vehicles that the Ukrainian army had been demanding for months to defend itself against Russian aggression and to be able to recover ground conquered by the invading forces.
It is a tank with great firepower, capable of eliminating enemy targets on the first try and can also shoot while moving.
For kyiv, it was urgent to receive the tanks as soon as possible in order to better face the new offensive that, according to NATO, the Kremlin is preparing for this spring.
The complexity of the Leopard 2 makes its maintenance a challenge.
Berlin is considering setting up a tank repair station in a country neighboring Ukraine.
Armies of 15 European countries have in their arsenals a total of 2,405 units of the German Leopard 2 tank, of different models and upgrades.
According to figures from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) analysis center, Germany has 521. Although countries like Poland have their own Leopards, they needed authorization from the manufacturing country, in this case Germany, to re-export them to Kiev.
The Scholz government made the decision to allow it the same day it announced the delivery of its own.
Poland, Spain, Portugal, Finland, the Netherlands and Norway contribute to the Leopard 2 battalion.
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